boat owner

Ask the experts

SAILS, RIGS AND MASTS PAINT

Baffled

by the

blisters

Q

The paint has come

off the fuel tank

baffles in the glassfibre

tank on my 1970 Triana

Tropica. The paint

appeared to have massive

bubbles in it, but these

are hard to press. Could

this be ethanol, and is

it a problem?

Anthony Jordan

By email

RICHARD JERRAM

REPLIES: To repair the

baffles would not be very

practical, and it would make

more sense financially to

replace your GRP tank with

a stainless steel or plastic

one. Firstly, access to the

tank is very limited, and you

would have great difficulty in

reaching all the baffles. Even

if you had better access,

you’d still have to remove all

the gelcoat and then flush

the tank with fresh water to

remove all traces of the fuel.

You would then have to coat

with a fuel-resistant epoxy,

ensuring that you achieve at

least 500 microns dry film

thickness. This type of

coating is usually only

available for large

commercial vessels and

would only come in 20lt

drums. Also, this type of

coating has to be applied to

a strict specification, so there

is a strong likelihood that a

breakdown could happen

prematurely. Therefore, a

stainless steel or plastic

tank looks to me like the

more practical route.

ENGINES

Q

I recently had the
misfortune to get a pick-up
buoy line caught in the prop of
my Hurley 24, which resulted in
a dull thud then no drive.
On inspection, I found that
the flexible shaft coupling had
separated. This consists of two
metal discs approx 100mm in

diameter with a rubber core in

between. It’s not held together

with any bolts, but simply relies

on the bond between rubber

and metal for strength.

The rubber doesn’t appear to

be damaged in any way – just

parted from the metal – and I’m

wondering if there is a product

on the market that will bond

the two surfaces back together

again with sufficient strength

to maintain drive? The engine

is a Yanmar YSE 8, so there’s

maybe not a huge amount of

torque involved.

Paul Kings

By email

Q

I recently bought a gaff
cutter, and after a few
weeks of preparation I was
ready to sail her home to
Newport in South Wales from
Milford Haven. The last job I
needed to do was attach the
sails. After some trial and error I
got the jibs installed and rolled,
and then came the main: all
straightforward and without
problem. At the bottom of the
mainsail bag I found another
bag containing a topsail and
some line and blocks. As the
boat was new to me I made the
quick decision to leave well
alone until I had time to sort it
all out once I was home. And
here is the rub: I cannot see
what all the kit is for or how it
should be rigged. Searching the
internet and John Leather’s
books are no help.
The gaff has two holes in the
throat halyard attachment; there
is no fixing point at the end of
the gaff; there is an eye at the
top of the mast through which a
halyard is passed; there is no
topmast on board, but the sail
has eyes fitted.
The lines shown in the photo
are 9 and 14m long, and there
are three small blocks plus one
triple. I’m hoping that there is
some way to rig the sail so it
can be reefed single-handed
without taking it down.
Keith White
Abergavenny

COLIN ‘PLUM’ STROUD,
ON BEHALF OF THE
OGA (OLD GAFFERS
ASSOCIATION), REPLIES:
Considering topsails are often the
smallest sail on a gaffer, they are
notorious for the numerous ways
of setting and hoisting them –
and for the very limited published

How should I rig my topsail?

instructions! The photo of your

topsail shows lacing eyes/

grommets running the full length

of the luff, indicating it should have

a full-length luff yard attached.

This arrangement is often referred

to as a ‘Cornish yard topsail’ and

is common on the Falmouth

Working Boats.

You may not have all the correct

parts in your kit as topsails usually

have three lines – halyard, sheet

and downhaul. For a full

description of rigging this type

of topsail, I recommend you

visit http://www.galawebsite.co.uk, and

after registering (it is free), go

to the ‘publications’ page where

you will see a free publication

for downloading called ‘Hoist

The Topsail’.

Regarding your question about

reefing without taking down the

topsail, although there are a few

exceptions, the topsail is usually

the first to be removed when you

need to reduce sail area, and this

is done by lowering it completely.

If you get in touch with your local

area of the OGA via http://www.oga.org.

uk you will find someone happy

to help you.

Which driveshaft rubber glue?

PAT MANLEY REPLIES:

I wouldn’t advise you to try a

DIY repair on your coupling.

The chances of it holding are

very poor, and you may end

up losing drive at a really

inappropriate time. It is possible

that the incident may be

covered by your boat insurance

policy, in which case the cost

of a replacement might be

covered – it’s worth a check.